Intravenous (IV) therapy allows for convenient and efficient administration of a drug to a patient by delivering the drug directly to the patient's bloodstream, for example via a needle inserted into the patient's median cubital vein at the elbow. However, IV therapy generally requires that an IV injection site remain undisturbed and that an IV supply tube supplying the drug to the injection site remain unkinked while the drug is being administered.
In some cases, the patient may be unwilling and/or unable to maintain the IV injection site and/or IV supply tube in an undisturbed state, such as if the patient is intoxicated or disobedient. In such a case, it may be beneficial to surround the IV injection site with an immobilizing splint. For example, when the IV injection site is an antecubital fossa of an arm, the immobilizing splint may include one or more stiffening members to prevent the patient from flexing the elbow in a manner that could disturb the IV injection site and/or the IV supply tube.
If the stiffening members of a splint are oriented laterally adjacent to the elbow or on a posterior side of the arm, they may not provide sufficient resistance to prevent flexure of the elbow. For example, the immobilizing splint may be formed of a flexible material that permits the elbow to flex to an undesirable degree despite the stiffening members remaining in an unbent configuration. Thus, there exists a need for an immobilizing splint that includes stiffening members that are appropriately configured and positioned to limit flexure of the elbow.